The present invention relates generally to a vending machine for vending age-restricted products using an authorization card and associated methods.
Most, if not all, states impose minimum age requirements for the purchase of certain products such as alcohol, tobacco products, and other age-restricted products. In order to purchase such products, the customer traditionally must present identification to the seller to verify his or her age prior to the transaction. The inability to verify the customer""s age prevents age-restricted products from being sold in vending machines. This verification process is particularly problematic in the vending machine industry since vending machines, by their very nature, involve unattended point-of-purchase transactions. Some examples of prior approaches to this problem or related problems can be found in the following U.S. patents, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,212; 5,139,384; 5,146,067, 5,273,183; 5,352,876; 5,371,346; 5,450,980; 5,523,551; 5,641,050; 5,641,092; 5,647,505; 5,696,908; 5,722,526; 5,734,150; 5,774,365; 5,819,981; 5,859,779; 5,927,544; 5,988,346; 5,147,021; 4,982,072; 4,915,205; and 4,230,214.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,526, issued to Sharrard, a vending machine system for age-restricted products is disclosed. In the Sharrard system, a customer inputs money into the vending machine and makes his or her selection. Thereafter, the customer is prompted to input an identification card such as a state government issued identification card or a drivers license containing the customer""s birth date. The vending machine either optically reads and interprets the written birth date on the face of the card, or reads the birth date data from a magnetic strip contained on the back of the card. A processor unit compares this data with the present date that is keyed into the vending machine by its operator, and determines whether the customer is of a sufficient age to purchase the product.
However, common forms of identification often do not have data written or encoded on them indicative of the user""s age or birth date. Moreover, some forms of identification may not have magnetic strips, such as drivers licenses which may or may not have a magnetic strip depending on the state at issue. Finally, it is not a simple matter to optically read and interpret written birth date data, a process that involves complicated scanning and data-interpretation technology. It would therefore be advantageous to have a vending machine capable of vending age-restricted products that did not suffer from the drawbacks of the Sharrard vending machine or other vending machines of the prior art.
The invention meets the above needs and overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing an economically feasible and commercially practical method and system for verifying the age of a purchaser prior to his purchase of age-restricted items from a vending machine.
An aspect of the invention includes issuing an authorization card to a customer containing a password when the customer presents identification material identifying the customer as being of at least a predetermined age. The customer inputs the authorization card into the vending machine, and a comparison of the password on the card is made to the password stored in a microprocessor in the vending machine. If the passwords match, the vending machine is enabled to accept payment from the customer and to vend the age-restricted product. In a further aspect of the invention, the authorization card contains additional data concerning the customer. The customer is prompted by the vending machine to enter a second card, such as a credit card. The microprocessor in the vending machine compares the additional data on the authorization card to the information on the second card to further verify the propriety of the purchase.